Club
by swastini
Summary: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When you find that your night of partying sucks to an extreme, look out for a missingnin. oneshot slight sasukexsakura


Club

Air that smelt and tasted like alcohol wafted around their heads, the beat of the ear-shattering techno music thumping in tune to their hearts as they circled around the dance floor. The girl reached for a shot of lukewarm sake from the counter and passed it to the boy; he drank it quickly and thirstily before returning to the dance. Sweat glazed his tanned, muscled body, and soon his azure eyes caught the girl's emerald ones, and they were locked in an intense, passionate gaze. Their bodies twisted and turned as one, grinding against each other as the song grew faster and faster. Pink locks lightly brushed his scarred face, and the boy's cheeks flushed with the unfamiliar contact. The girl giggled at the color, her minute, red bareback and even smaller miniskirt showing pale, smooth skin. It was a night like this they saw him, a night of drinks, parties and romance.

Heh. She wished.

The infamous 'Konaha Klub' (named by the less respectable patrons of the village) was in truth nothing more than a storehouse for beer, women, drugs and other contraband Sakura couldn't bring herself to speak of. The only music that played there were songs of her father's – or even grandfather's – time, and the sake tasted like beer heated in a microwave oven. It was.

"Please, Sakura. I don't need a place like this – "

Naruto waved his arm up and down as they entered.

"– to make me feel better than he got away. Again."

So he was serious, wasn't he? Not even a –chan at the back of my name. Sakura sighed. Losing Sasuke-kun for the fifth time in a row was really getting him down. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring him here. The badly lit bar had only two people sitting at it, and three teenage boys sat around a filthy table smoking cigarettes. Naruto slumped dejectedly onto a chair, only to have one of its legs break and fall on his ass. Sakura sensed her laughter didn't make the situation any better.

"Kami, I'm so sorry."

"Ahh, it's alright, Sakura-chan. Thanks for bringing me here by the way."

The bartender asked them what they wanted, though it was obvious the only thing that was served was beer, and scoffed at them when they asked for anything else. Two mugs of dirty yellow liquid were placed in front of Naruto; Sakura took one, sipped a little of it and felt like gagging.

"What the heck is this? Dishwater?"

Naruto finished his in one gulp, and called for more.

This was terrible. Horrendous. Unbelievable. Had they actually walked for an hour from the Hokage tower after yet another failed mission regarding their ex-teammate just for a stinking, half empty bar that really wasn't in Konoha at all? Sakura kneaded her throbbing temples to quell a rising headache. It _was_ a bad idea to come here.

No. She had come for Naruto, and Naruto, as far as she was concerned, was enjoying himself thoroughly. For one thing, he was chatting up a pretty girl that looked a lot like Hinata… Smirking, Sakura mentally pictured what the self-proclaimed future Hokage's girlfriend would do if she saw him here.

"_N-naruto! H-how could y-you betray m-me!"_

"_Hinata-chan! It's not what it looks like! I – " _

"_Hakkeshou Kaiten!" _

Or maybe she would cry and run to Kiba or Shino. Either way, it would be very funny.

"Hehe."

"Sakura-chan?"

She caught herself and quickly turned away from her best friend. Naruto shrugged, guzzling down his sixth mug of beer (Sakura could swear that he had an even higher tolerance for alcohol than Tsunade-hime did), she in turn took two more sips of hers. Big mistake. Her face was an awkward shade of lime when her fellow shinobi tapped her hesitantly on her shoulder. His wide blue eyes were full of guilt, and he avoided her gaze. This wasn't right. Naruto was never like this unless… he was about to something he would regret. Sakura could only wonder what it was.

"Sakura-chan?"

That tone. Where had she heard it before? Where?

"I…I need to tell you something."

When he thought he was too late for the guys when they were chasing Sasuke. When he thought he was too late for Gaara when they found him lifeless on the floor. Too late. Just too late, Sakura-chan, he had said. Too late for them.

"I can't. Not anymore. It's just…"

"Too late? For Sasuke-kun?"

He was giving up? On his friend? On her?

"I can't! He's not coming back! I can't make him, no matter how hard I try! And you know I try harder than anyone!"

He was pleading for acceptance now.

"Naruto! All those promises! How could you?"

_You hypocrite. You unfeeling, uncaring hypocrite. _Her conscience was calling her names again. _He's the one, the only one, who stood by you and swore never to abandon you like Sasuke-kun did. And this is how you treat him? He's your lifeline! _Yes. He is. I just can't let him know that.

"It's hopeless and it's stupid. He probably never wants to see our faces ever aga – "

She slapped him. Hard, on his left cheek. Naruto, a red handprint visible on his skin, stared her straight into the eyes, and suddenly she felt so bad she wanted to scream apologies and bring him a bowl of extra large pork ramen. They turned away from each other, both ashamed for different reasons, and then silence.

The end.

Heh. She was wishing again.

Sakura liked to think that she was a girl that didn't dream, hope or imagine unnecessarily, because that wasn't the way of the shinobi. Two and a half years of waiting for Sasuke to pop out from behind the academy or meet her in a random restaurant had left Sakura rather disappointed with fairy tales and even more disappointed with herself. There wasn't any time for things like that. Not anymore. She had accepted it, welcomed it, and embraced it.

She smelt him before she saw him.

Of course, Sakura had no idea who 'he' was at the time. If you had asked Kiba or any other Inuzuka what an Uchiha smelt like, they would tell you various things. Sandalwood burning in a lonesome prayer room. Black paint splashed upon a whitewashed wall. And always, always there was the metallic scent of blood stains on red cloth. The Uchiha smelt like death, pride, and ambition.

She couldn't have known though, for Haruno Sakura was not an Inuzuka. Instead, the very first thing that Sakura smelt was liquor. Someone had been drinking some very strong stuff, and by the way that person's chakra was feeling, a whole load of it. Even Naruto was curious, and as both people swirled around to face the new comer staggering through the door, what they saw shocked them.

"Teme?"

Black eyes that lacked all emotion. Black hair that stuck up in the back and framed his face in the front. Porcelain skin that was colder than the coldest night of winter. Oh god. It was Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun…"

And he was completely wasted.

To say that Sasuke looked like shit would not be accurate, because he looked _much_ worse. Sakura noted that porcelain part of his skin were only in reference to his bare torso and neck, as his face was a motley green; his already messy hair was more disheveled than usual; his obsidian eyes were glazed over, a sure sign of one too many drinks. It was when his legs started to quiver with the effort that Sakura decided that if no one came to help him soon, he would pass out on the floor. Unfortunately, she was correct.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto was the first on the scene, gently lifting Sasuke up and placing his unconscious friend's arm around his neck. Sakura soon snapped out of the initial surprise and rushed to help the boys. That was when she realized they were drawing far too much attention for it to be good. The five other people in the bar were staring, and if one of them was a shinobi of Konoha, the Uchiha could be arrested. Sakura pulled out a few paper notes from her pocket and passed them to the bartender; he in turn gave her a key and pointed towards the stairs.

"Second room to the left. You pay extra if he sicks on the bed sheets."

"Yes sir."

Gingerly they lifted Sasuke up the winding staircase; Naruto carefully holding his arms and Sakura cautiously carrying his legs. No words were exchanged between the two, but when the door was opened and the missing-nin placed on the bed, questions began to flow out from Naruto like a stream of water gushing out a hole in a dam.

"What is he doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think he saw us?"

"I'm not sure, Naruto."

"Should we bring him back?"

"I. Do. Not. Know."

"Did you see the bartender's face?"

"What the hell does this have to do with the bartender?"

Sasuke twitched on the bed, flipped to his left and went back to sleep. Sakura lowered her voice to a whisper, to wanting wake him.

"Like I said – "

"Why are you whispering?"

She had a proper answer this time.

"I don't want to wake him up. Look at the bags under his eyes. He's tired."

The blonde boy gave a hearty laugh, and Sakura couldn't help but notice the slight sarcasm that came with it.

"Excuse me for saying this, but Sakura-chan. He's drunk. You seem to be forgetting that."

A pair of dark eyes opened.

"Sakura."

And for a second there she was twelve again; her crush, her true love, had just called her name after waking from his slumber. Only her name and no one else's. Sakura swallowed back a 'In your face, Ino-pig!' and addressed the situation. Sasuke seemed too inebriated to be going anywhere on his own, while Naruto thankfully hadn't noticed this yet, and was staying as silent as a mouse. Now there were only two options. The first would be to bring Sasuke back and risk him being captured, thrown into prison or (Sakura paled at the thought) executed. The second: to nurse him in a shady, unhygienic bar that was an hour or so away from the nearest village without any medical equipment.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

She would take her chances with number two. A look of confusion swept across Sasuke's face.

"H…how do you know my name?"

He didn't know who she was. Sakura almost felt her heart drop, but busied herself with the idea that Sasuke had said her name on sheer impulse, not because he had seen her or heard her. The little thought cheered her up enough for her to think of a good answer to his question.

"You're Uchiha, Sasuke-san. You're very famous."

Feeding his ego would be her best chance. Sasuke looked a little shocked by her reply, and very flattered, something she figured to be good.

"O…of course."

His words were slurred, and she quickly wiped away a film of sweat that had collected on his forehead with the blankets. Naruto remained quiet, still not wanting to risk being detected and attacked.

"Girl."

And suddenly she was on top of him, his left arm tugging on her right and his other hand stroking her face. Sakura felt her skin go crimson with the intimacy. A grunt came from the boy behind her, but she took no notice.

"Y…you remind me of s…someone."

Sasuke's hand moved to the back of her head and pushed lightly; her burning cheek came to rest on his bare chest. Sakura decided that she had died and gone to fan girl heaven.

"L…like… L…like…"

And then he barfed on her.

"Fu – Shit!"

She pulled away quickly after that, running screaming to the bathroom as Naruto laughed and laughed and laughed. By the time she was back at the bed her hair had already been washed and dried, an hour had passed, and Sasuke was out cold once more.

"Lucky that it went on your hair. If any of it got onto the sheets we would have to pay, and we're broke."

For the second time that night Sakura slapped him. Naruto was catapulted to the other side of the room.

"You ass!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sun shining through the dark velvet curtains woke him up, and not a minute sooner did the headache set in. Sasuke concluded with a groan that he had a hangover.

"What the – "

Where the hell was he, anyway? It looked like a room in a bar, or something of the sort, and was empty except for a worn sofa that was placed in a corner, a small television in front of it, and the bed he was sleeping on. That was easy enough to understand. But – Sasuke cursed his brain for being rational – if the room was empty, who had brought him here in the first place? Pain was clouding his mind, and he doubted he would be able to find an answer until that pain stopped. Okay, Uchiha. Deep, calm breaths. Eradicate the source of the problem first. Why do people have hangovers?

"Not done purging."

Sasuke found himself saying his answer out loud. His body had retained some alcohol from the night before, and it was making his head hurt like a bitch. But where was the remaining liquor? His stomach was empty, he was pretty sure of that. And hopefully he hadn't drunk enough for it to have been absorbed by his bloodstream. So that meant…

"Shit."

His Sharingan activated, Sasuke realized with remorse that the alcohol level in his chakra was enough to make Tsunade drunk twice over. Wait. Tsunade? What the heck was he thinking of her for? Sasuke winced as jolts of pain racked his head. Thinking of Konoha would be the death of him.

"Arggh!"

Apart from being in agony, Sasuke was now frustrated too. He was pretty much screwed if he let the pain fester, and if he tried to stop it he wouldn't have any chakra left. God, life hated him. Which he understood, since he hated it back.

"Kami-sama!"

How could it feel like someone was using his brain as a drum? Sasuke released his chakra in one go; the contaminated purple energy poured out from every pore in his body, whirled in spirals around his head and fled out the open window. The pain was stopping, but he was exhausted, and he fell back onto the bed panting. So he was devoid of any chakra, and completely vulnerable. At least he wasn't unconscious on the floor. Sasuke's lips curved into a smile. He sounded like Kakashi-sensei.

"The hell?"

What was up with all the reminiscing? The last time he had thought about Konoha this much was well over a year ago, and even then he had been planning its destruction. And since when had he ever called Kakashi his sensei? It wasn't as if he respected him or anything! Clambering out of the bed, Sasuke noticed his appearance for the first time. His shirt was missing and his pants were the same ones he had been wearing for the past two days, only they looked as though they had been cleaned recently. Oh well. It was normal enough. Except for… His face. If he had somehow done anything to it the night before, Sasuke decided he would kill himself. And later the tattoo artist who did it for him.

Walking to the toilet was harder than he thought it would be; his butt was sore after falling twice on it as he crept into the bathroom. Clutching the sink as he faced an image of himself, Sasuke saw many things. First he saw that his face was not as green as he had imagined it to be, while second he saw that it had been wiped with a damp towel. Third he saw the words 'emo' scrawled messily across his forehead, and Sasuke screamed bloody murder.

Somewhere in Konoha, Naruto sneezed.

Sasuke stomped out of the room; a black bandanna made out of cloth ripped from his pants concealing the embarrassing words that refused to come off even after a shower. As he descended the stairs, a gruff voice called out to him to pay for the room in a way that reminded him of – oh no, oh god no – Ibiki. Sasuke pulled out what ever he had in his pockets and placed them on the table. The bartender didn't have them heart to tell the poor kid that he had left 2000 yen.

"This really sucks…"

As he stepped outside and smelt the fresh, fresh air, the sign 'Konoha Klub' was suddenly in sight and Sasuke remembered everything.

"_You ass!"_

_Sasuke didn't dare to open an eye in case it would make his head hurt more, but instead listened and waited for the two people to stop fighting. The girl noticed that he didn't like being unattended and rushed to his side, leaving the beaten and moaning pile of flesh that was the other boy helplessly on the sofa. _

"_Do you want anything, Sasuke-san?"_

_God, she was pretty._

"_W…water."_

_The girl ran off, and was soon back by his side with a glass of cold water. Sasuke downed it eagerly and the girl looked surprised by how thirsty he was. _

"_Did you have to hit so hard?"_

_The boy had peeled himself of the couch and was rubbing a bruised blonde head; the girl stared at him with beautiful green eyes. _

"_Yes, Naruto. Yes, I did."_

So it was them. His stupid teammates. They were the ones that had taken care of him after (remembering what happened before he stumbled into the club was a big plus too) he had drunk himself silly somewhere in Oto. If Sakura didn't win the Most Annoying Fan Girl Ever Award, Sasuke knew Karin would. Well, at least those two retards hadn't brought him to Konoha, or called the entire Anbu squad on his ass.

"Sakura…"

Had Sakura really become so goddamn sexy? I mean, he saw her all the time, but he was always trying to kill her every time he did, and that wasn't counted as far as he was concerned. But she didn't sound angry the night before, or sound pathetic like she normally did either; Sakura sounded like a woman, and Sasuke liked it. A little voice at the back of his head said 'Repopulate your clan!', and he almost blushed.

"Naruto…"

The idiot was idiotic as usual, but at least he hadn't been carted to Konoha. Desperate as the fool was, Sasuke knew there would always be some chivalry in Naruto when it came to helping his friends, and that hell would be replaced with an ice skating rink before Naruto dragged him home unconscious and stoned. Home. That was a weird word. Was Konoha still his home? Were the both of them still his friends? Everything was so confusing now. And for the first time in a long time Sasuke wondered what he would do after he killed Itachi.

"You guys…"

Sasuke remembered what was on his forehead.

"Are going down!"

End.


End file.
